On June 29, 1905 -- exactly 100 years ago on Wednesday -- Archibald Wright Graham made his lone appearance in the majors.
He never got to hit. Instead, he was left on deck.
Ah, the "Field of Dreams" thing. Of course, as you may know, there's an Iowa City connection with W.P. Kinsella being a Writer's Workshop alum; my understanding is Shoeless Joe was written in Iowa City.
My favorite line from the movie - since we're into the 100 greatest movie lines this week, is not the chosen "if you build it he will come" or even the WAY overused (in these parts) "Is this heaven" bit. No, it's at the end, when the daughter says "people will come to Iowa City, and it'll be really boring." Guess you have to be from here - when "Stripes" came out we all thought Bill Murray's "It's Czechoslovakia! It's like going into Wisconsin!" was hilarious too. Though in that case, Iowa would have been more accurate.
Iowa Citians are also bemused by the part early in the film when the Bible thumpers try to intimidate the school board. Having lived here Kinsella obviously knew we are the People's Republic of Johnson County. I'm guessing the fictional Kinsella had to have lived just over the line into the old Clear Creek district, where someone tried to get the Bible established as a public school textbook about the time Shoeless Joe was written. (The vote was about 85% no.) The film, of course, was made in rural Dubuque County which is a touch more conservative than Iowa City...
Iowa
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